Beginning with guitar lessons as a youth, he developed an interest in the punk scene that was popular in Regina. Attending shows of his favourite bands, his first foray into the music business was promoting the punk rock shows of the early 1980s. Those punk shows helped forge a career in the arts that continues to this day. Taylor is now the performing arts co-ordinator for the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils (OSAC).

The punk rock era was something that appealed to Taylor, who often had bands sleeping on his floor.

“There is lots of good times around that,” he said.

Taking his love of music and bringing it to music college, he met his wife Lynn. Following college, he decided it was time to pursue a career in the music industry.

Beginning with HMV, Taylor worked for the company for seven years before Universal Music came knocking when it was in search for a representative in Saskatchewan. Living in Calgary at the time, Taylor did not hesitate at the chance to return to his home province.

“My wife and I were considering moving back here to start a family, and about that time I applied and we moved back,” Taylor said.

From 1996 until 2010, he worked with Universal Music, during the heyday of the music store era. During that time, he would attend midnight openings, attend shows and work directly with the artists under the label.

“I remember ordering 1,000 copies of different records. It was an exciting time,” he said. “In the label days you were always working shows and going to shows and working with artists. It was always fun.”

Each time he worked with an artist, he wanted to make sure that artist had a great experience and went elsewhere bragging about the experience they had playing in Saskatchewan.

“My philosophy was that when an artist leaves Regina, I want them to say the guy in Regina really took care of us,” Taylor said. “I think that served me well. I won some company awards. I felt vindicated that my passion for the job and the attention to detail was recognized.”

After leaving Universal Music, Taylor heard about a position as the performing arts co-ordinator with OSAC.

“Our executive director and I have known each other for some time in the music industry,” Taylor said. “This position opened up and so we had some conversations. I applied and I got it in February of 2011.”

Being able to continue to work in Regina, doing what he loved, was very important to Taylor. For him and his wife, being in Regina is a dream.

“I like that it is easy to get around. I tell people when I moved back from Calgary, the pace was much slower. Here you can mosey,” Taylor said. “I found that you could, in the mid-1990s, move into a nice house at a reasonable price in a family friendly neighbourhood. The way Calgary was going at the time, we would have been living in condos or apartments.”

One aspect of Regina he and his family enjoy is the quality of life, but also the accessibility to arts and culture.

“It is not like there is nothing to do here. We have always found that there have been lots of activities if you are interested in finding them,” Taylor said. “There are always shows here, and performances here.”

For Taylor, the art scene in Saskatchewan is a big part of his job and something he has seen improve over the years.

“Things could always be better with arts but right now, from a historical perspective, things are definitely on an upswing,” Taylor said. “There are some sectors that are better than others. The film industry has not regained the prowess it once had. I would say as far as the music industry goes, and other creative industries, things are as good now as they have ever been.”

Kevin Korchinski has known Taylor since the late-1980s, and has worked with him on several occasions.

“We first met in about 1988 or 1989. He was working in one of the HMVs and I was the Warner Music Canada rep,” Korchinski said. “We have always travelled in the same circles, and working with record labels. A few years ago I was looking for a co-ordinator at OSAC where I held that position earlier. I knew he would be a good fit and we brought him on board.”

Over the years that the two friends have known each other, Korchinski best describes Taylor as a real down-to-Earth person.

“He is very low-key. He is the master of the bad dad jokes. He does bring a sense of humour to the office that wasn’t there before,” he said. “He is a real smart guy who knows a lot of the tech side and that helps us out a lot.”

Korchinski cites Taylor’s temperament as a huge benefit for the organization.

“Lots of derailments can happen and you need the temperament that can guide you through it, and he has that.”

Throughout the 1990s, Korchinski says Taylor proved himself to be the best label man in the province, and that allowed him to be one of the last as well.

“In the 1990s, there were five or six of us representing various record labels and he was the last guy standing at the end. He always took the importance of promoting Saskatchewan artists to his label at the time to a very high degree,” Korchinski said. “With OSAC, our job is to be a liaison between professional artists and the groups. We also see our job working with artists helping them career-wise and getting them more on the national stage.”

The work that Taylor has done has helped many artists, according to Korchinski.

“He has done a lot of work with young artists and the best ways to access the different touring opportunities,” Korchinski said.

The artists who are part of OSAC also agree that the organization, and Taylor’s work, helps them.

“It is crucial. It is such a massive web they weave together,” said Melody Johnson, a 2016 showcase artist with OSAC. “The person has to be so organized and a good communicator and has to be clear and have a vision.”

For Johnson, she has found Taylor to be that type of person.

“I know in my case, Skip has been very supportive of our schedule and flying and he is taking into account a lot of people,” she said. “It is helpful that a guy like that has our back.”

Johnson feels that showcases such as that organized by OSAC have a huge impact on the lives of artists, once again highlighting the important work that Taylor does.

“I have been in contact with other entertainers. It is interesting to hear about their stories, about their experiences, and what they got from the showcases and tours,” she said. “In my experience they have all been very positive and the audiences that have come, whether they are presenters or people from the community, they seem to be so up with the entertainment and really positive.”

Sean Russell, another showcase artist, also sees the opportunities that are created as highly beneficial.

“These kinds of showcasing opportunities are incredibly important for artists. It is the only efficient way to get in front of a healthy number of presenters and give them a taste of what you can do live,” Russell said. “This is my first time working with OSAC but so far they’ve been nothing but great to deal with and very on the ball as far as organization goes in the lead-up to the event.”

Russell said while his manager does most of the talking with Taylor, he has always been quick to respond and is incredibly well-organized.

The work Taylor does has helped many artists reach new audiences, and it is no small task for him or those in the organization.

“Usually our cycle is about an 18-month cycle. Around January we will start to put out notices for artists to apply for the showcase,” Taylor said. “Those applications come in from January to May. In May, we strike a showcase committee and we go through the applications and select 14 to 15 artists to showcase.”

The showcase event for the artists is then held in October, this year running Oct. 14-16 in Saskatoon.

“Those artists perform for all our members,” Taylor said. “After that our members then go back to their communities to have further discussions with arts communities and then all the presenters send me their request for performers for the following season.”

At this point, Taylor puts together the tours and enters all the information into a huge spreadsheet. Needless to say, being organized is one of his strong suits.

“We have about 35 different communities that do performing in the season,” he said. “Between the two programs, we did 151 performances in 2015-16.”

From his days on the punk rock scene when he let band members sleep at his house, to today when he gets the names of a new generation of artists out to a wider audience, he is helping those around him do what they love.

As for Taylor, music has reached his home life through his daughter. Zoey.

“My daughter has been into music for a long time and I learned to play the piano with her,” he said. “There are all kinds of things I like to do, but camping and golfing are two of the things I really enjoy.”

Family is something very important to Taylor as well.

“That was what brought us back to Regina. Saskatchewan had that family pull and it was important to us to have family around and family support,” he said, “to have that shared family experience with our daughter.”

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